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Using both genetic and pharmacologic inhibition, scientists found that proneural glioma stem cells (GSCs) were preferentially sensitive to EZH2 disruption, whereas mesenchymal GSCs were more sensitive to BMI1 inhibition. Given that glioblastomas contained both proneural and mesenchymal GSCs, combined EZH2 and BMI1 targeting proved more effective than either agent alone both in culture and in vivo. [Nat Med]
Abstract

While β‐catenin has been demonstrated as an essential molecule and therapeutic target for various CSCs including those driven by MLL fusions, researchers show that transcriptional memory from cells of origin predicts acute myeloid leukemia patient survival and allows β‐catenin‐independent transformation in MLL‐CSCs derived from hematopoietic stem cell‐enriched Lin–Sca-1+c-kit+ population but not myeloid–granulocyte progenitors. [EMBO J]
Abstract

Scientists showed that brachyury was a crucial regulator of stemness in chordoma and in more common aggressive cancers. Furthermore, this effect of brachyury was mediated by control of synthesis and stability of Yes-associated protein (YAP), a key regulator of tissue growth and homeostasis, providing an unexpected mechanism of control of YAP expression. [Cell Rep]
Abstract

The authors identified the role of FAT1 in regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness characteristics in glioblastoma (GBM). The expression of FAT1, EMT (Snail/LOX/Vimentin/N-cad), stemness (SOX2/OCT4/Nestin/REST) and hypoxia markers (HIF-1α/VEGF/PGK1/CA9) was upregulated in ≥39% of GBM tumors with significant positive correlation of the expression of FAT1 with LOX/Vimentin/SOX2/HIF-1α/PGK1/VEGF/CA9. [Int J Cancer]
Abstract

Scientists discuss new developments in the CSC field in relationship to changing insights into how normal stem cells maintain healthy tissues. Expectations in the field have become more realistic, and now, the first successes of therapies based on the CSC concept are emerging. [Nat Med]
Abstract

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The FDA announced that it has awarded 15 new clinical trial research grants totaling more than $22 million over the next four years to boost the development of products for patients with rare diseases. [U.S. Food and Drug Administration]
Press Release

Astellas Pharma Inc. announced that the FDA has granted Fast Track designation for the development of gilteritinib for adult patients with FLT3 mutation-positive relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia. [Astellas Pharma Inc.]
Press Release

Trovagene, Inc. announced that the FDA granted an orphan drug designation to PCM-075 for the treatment of patients with AML. PCM-075 is an oral, highly-selective adenosine triphosphate competitive inhibitor of the serine/threonine Polo-like Kinase 1 (PLK1) enzyme, which appears to be over expressed in several different hematologic malignancies and solid tumor cancers. [Trovagene, Inc.]
Press Release

Millions of articles might soon disappear from ResearchGate, the world’s largest scholarly social network. Five publishers said they had formed a coalition that would start ordering ResearchGate to remove research articles from its site because they breach publishers’ copyright. [Nature News]
Editorial

When the Navajo Nation opens its first oncology center next year in Tuba City, Arizona, clinicians there may be able to offer a service that has been banned on tribal lands for 15 years: analyzing the DNA of Navajo tribe members to guide treatments and study the genetic roots of disease. [Nature News]
Editorial

Anxiety is growing in Brazil over the country’s collapsing research budgets. President Michel Temer had slashed funding for science by 44% and has proposed additional decreases for 2018 — even as some science institutes run out of money for basic needs, such as paying electricity bills. The 2017 science budget, at 3.2 billion reais (US$1 billion), is the lowest the country has seen in at least 12 years. [Nature News]
Editorial